Thursday, August 4, 2016

Washington DC transit police officer, convert to Islam, charged with aiding Islamic State terrorists. Traveled to Libya twice in 2011 to help rebels, had large cache of weapons at his home, under investigation since 2010

Authorities allege in a criminal complaint unsealed
Wednesday that Young attempted to send money to ISIS through mobile-based gift cards using an unnamed messaging service the
terror group utilizes for recruiting purposes. The $245 digital transaction, which was actually sent to an undercover FBI agent in July, was redeemed by the agency. Despite Wednesday’s arrest, the U.S. Attorney’s
Office said there was never any threat to the public or a plot by Young
to target the public transit system....

Young had beenunder FBI investigation since 2010,when the Metro Transit Police Department alerted the feds to suspicions
over the former police officer. During the investigation, the FBI kept
extremely close tabs on Young through the use of undercover agents and
confidential informants....

Investigators also interviewed Young several times during the course of the investigation. Court documents paint the story of an individual with ties to suspicious individuals and with terrorist aspirations abroad. The criminal complaint connects Young to two convicted Washington, DC-area terrorists, Zachary Chesser and Amine El Khalifi.

Chesser was sentenced in federal court in 2011 to 25
years in prison for aiding Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabaab. He is also
known for threatening the creators of South Park for the show's
depiction of the prophet Mohamed.Khalifi was arrested in 2012 for
attempting to detonate an explosive vest in the U.S. Capitol Building
and was eventually sentenced to 30 years in prison for his crimes.

Court documents show federal investigators also
questioned Young about trips he had taken to Libya in 2011. Young told
FBI agents he traveled twice to the North African nation to assist
rebels attempting to overthrow the regime of then-dictator Muammar
Qaddafi.

A baggage search by Customs and Border Protection on
one of Young’s outbound trips revealed he had traveled with body armor, a
Kevlar helmet, and “several other military-style items,” according to
the criminal complaint. Young is also alleged to have maintained a large cache of firearms, including numerous rifles and handguns at his home....

In 2015...he admitted to
interviewers at the Metro Transit Police Department that he dressed up
as Jihadi John for Halloween in 2014. According to the criminal
complaint, as part of his costume “Young stuffed an orange jumpsuit with
paper to portray a headless hostage, and he carried that around with
him throughout the party.” During that same interview, Young admitted to having
previously dressed up as a Nazi and to collecting Nazi memorabilia as
well as possessing a tattoo of a German eagle on his neck....

He will be held in Alexandria until his detention
hearing, which is set for Friday at 2 p.m. If convicted, he faces up to
20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised
release....Young's employment with the metro police was"terminated" Wednesday, according to a memo sent to metro staffers."

84 in US charged with Islamic terror related activity to date:

...........

"The report, ISIS in America: From Retweets to Raqqa
consists of two parts. The first examines all cases of U.S. persons
arrested, indicted, or convicted in the United States for ISIS-related
activities. A wide array of legal documents related to these cases
provides empirical evidence for identifying several demographic factors
related to the arrested individuals. This section also looks at the
cases of other Americans who, while not in the legal system, are known
to have engaged in ISIS-inspired behavior.The second part
of the report examines various aspects of the ISIS-related mobilization
in America. Here the report analyzes the individual motivations of ISIS
supporters; the role of the Internet and, in particular, social media,
in their radicalization and recruitment processes; whether their
radicalization took place in isolation or with other, like-minded
individuals; and the degree of their tangible links to ISIS. It
concludes with recommendations to combat ISIS recruitment.Full Report Media CoverageInfographics